Family Matters
by Franki09
Summary: He had lost his memory and been shipped off to some crazy Roman camp, been married to Annabeth for eight years, but nothing would have prepared him for what was about to come. A sweet, funny oneshot about Annabeth's birth. R&R!


**Hello! I hope you enjoy this – I've always thought it would be quite a sweet idea. May or may be not based on a couple of **_**Friends **_**episodes, depending on how you look at it. All feedback welcome!**

Horns blared. Headlights shone. Traffic lights glowed. Rain pelted against the window, and the stars were invisible in the black night sky, disappearing among the many lights generated by New York. Percy Jackson was in his car, driving home from work, (he worked as a marine biologist in a zoo) on one of the bleakest nights NYC had ever seen. Percy was not the impatient type, but the traffic queue was slow and he had been sat in his car for gods know how long.

He was really looking forward to getting home to a warm, freshly cooked meal made by Annabeth, his successful architect wife, and a cosy night in. However, the unfortunate phone call he was about to receive would deny him of that. He had fought in two wars against titans and giants, lost his memory and been shipped off to some crazy Roman camp, he had been married to Annabeth for eight years, but nothing, _nothing, _would have prepared him for what was about to come.

Percy's mobile rang. After the war had ended, Chiron had decided that Percy was old enough to defend himself and others, so he, as a demigod, was now allowed a phone. But what the call was about really made him wish he wasn't. So, he used his free hand that wasn't on the wheel and fished around his backpack for his phone, before expertly snapping the phone open and holding it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said.

"Uh, hi! Um, it's Nico."

"Hi. Anything you want, or...? It's just that I'm driving and-"

"Yeah, well, um, I actually called to tell you that, Annabeth is having the baby!"

"WHAT?" The car swerved.

"Woah, calm down. I'm driving her to the hospital now, there's no need to worry. Just, get here as soon as possible, 'kay? A nine-month-pregnant, hormonal Annabeth is not something you would want to be stuck in a car with for more than half an hour."

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. Is she okay?"

"Oh, yeah, she's fine. Well, as fine as women giving birth can get."

"Great. See you soon." He said, hanging up and stepping on it as soon as the lights turned green.

{0}

Percy arrived at the hospital just in time, jumping out the car, charging through the doors, racing up the stairs and arriving in the waiting room, anxious and breathless. He saw Annabeth relaxing on the sofa, far more patient than he would have thought. Nico was stood, talking to a nurse. Neither noticed him come in.

"Okay, she seems fine. A doctor will be here soon." Percy heard the nurse say. Relief rushed through him, and it appeared Nico was relieved too. "You're a good father." The nurse said to Nico as he sat down next to Annabeth. Percy's heart collapsed. Nico went rigid, and caught Percy standing in the doorway. Percy reluctantly came and sat down, grudgingly, next to Annabeth. "Sorry..." Nico said, but Percy stayed silent.

He gently placed a hand on Annabeth's. "You alright?" he asked her.

"No," she snapped, sweat trickling down her fore-head as she stifled a groan, rubbing her swollen stomach.

"All right!" Percy raised his hands in surrender. Annabeth glared daggers at him. Then she groaned, and rested her head on Percy's shoulder. He had no idea what to do. He had known her since he was twelve, they were twenty-nine now, she was giving birth to his child, and he was _still _awkward around her. So he patted her back gingerly, trying his best to ignore Nico's attempt to hide his laughter.

After another a thirty seconds, a male doctor and two nurses came bustling in with one of those wheelie bed things, that Percy had no idea what they were called. "Thank the gods..." he muttered under his breath as they hauled Annabeth up onto the bed and whisked her away.

"You," the doctor pointed to Nico, "Come with us."

Percy was fuming. "Look! I'm the father!" He could feel his face go scarlet with rage. The doctor looked at Nico, who just shrugged.

"Hello! Just, giving birth here!" pointed out Annabeth angrily, before she gave a long, agonising moan again.

"Sorry, sorry," said the doctor. "Come on," he gestured to Percy, and they took off down the corridor, the wheels squeaking against the polished floor.

"She's dilated 5 centimetres!" exclaimed the nurse hurriedly.

"Well we better get a move on then!" said the doctor, shoving them into a maternity room and have Percy help him heave Annabeth onto the bed. "Wait here." He said, disappearing through the door with the nurses, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone in the hospital room. A thin sheet of silence hung over them, only broken by the occasional groan or yelp.

"So..." Percy started. "Do you want me to get some water?" he tried. Annabeth shot him her signature glare. Percy winced. No-one, _no-one _can glare like Annabeth can.

"Perseus Jackson." She spat. "You will sit there, you will wait, and you will not move until I find something _useful _for you to do!"

Another groan from Annabeth.

After a while, to Percy's relief, the door opened and Thalia came in, carrying a massive fluffy teddy bear underarm. "Annabeth!" she grinned, coming down to sit next to the woman lying on the bed. All signs of pain vanished, Annabeth beamed at her. "Thalia!" she smiled.

"Now, would you like me to get some water?" Thalia offered.

"Oh, that would be lovely, Thalia, thank you!" Annabeth said. Thalia carelessly chucked the teddy in Percy's direction and swiftly left the room, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone once again.

Percy pouted. "But-"

"Shut up, Percy."

"Okay."

{0}

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, quite a crowd had gathered. Jason, Leo, Piper, Grover, Clarisse, Frank, Hazel, Rachel, Reyna, Travis, Connor, Katie, Chiron, Athena, Poseidon, Hera, Zeus, Hades, Aphrodite and many other gods and people had turned up at the hospital for the birth. Not even everyone had arrived yet.

The gods who weren't parents to the mother and father stated it was because this was the first time a Greek demigod had ever been able to live long enough to have a kid, let alone with another Greek demigod.

Half of Camp Half Blood had turned up because Chiron had left and many thought it would be fun and exciting to stay the night in a hospital waiting room while the hero of their camp's wife gave birth. And altogether, they took up at least half of the hospital waiting room, receiving a few odd glares from people who simply couldn't believe the massive crowd were all one party.

Some time later, a nurse, (one of the ones who had been treating Annabeth) emerged asking who was waiting for 'Mr and Mrs Jackson.' When half the population of the room raised their hands, the poor girl didn't know what to say. After a bit, she managed, 'Who's closest to the mother and father?' and everyone immediately stood up and started squabbling over who was the closest relative.

They all went silent, however, when the nurse shouted 'RIGHT! One at a time!' and told them to raise their hands.

She picked Leo first. "I'm the son of his distant cousin, I... know him and am best friends with his rival." He stated proudly, greatly offended when she had dismissed him.

"I'm the father's uncle."

"We befriended the father and hid shaving cream in his sleeping bag when he was twelve."

"I'm the goddess of family."

"I'm his cousin."

"I'm his other cousin."

"I'm John Lennon's dad."

"I'm his mentor."

"I'm the ex-girlfriend of his rival."

"We're his best friends!"

"No, _I'm _his best friend; you were only there when he was an amnesiac. His other best friend is giving birth to his child."

"You're _all_ members of the parent's family?" she asked incredulously when the statements didn't subside.

"This isn't even a freaking quarter of it..." Leo muttered. The nurse didn't say anything for a few moments.

The squabbling went on for quite a while, and you wouldn't believe how relieved she was when someone finally said, "I'm the mother of the father, this is his step-father-"  
>"And I'm the father of the father."<p>

"Thank God!" the nurse said. Finally, she had found an _obvious_ relation.

"Uhh, that would be god-_zz. _Technically there's more than one." Poseidon couldn't help correcting her.

'_They're all nutters...' _was the only thing the nurse could think of as she led them to the maternity ward.

{0}

Percy had left the maternity room to get away from the tension, and had bought a rubber ball from the gift shop in his travels. Currently, he was on a hospital chair face-to-face with a wall, bouncing it off the wall and catching it again. It was very hard to avoid Annabeth's steady gaze boring into his back half the time. The doctor came in to check once in a while, but upon arriving in the hospital Annabeth's dilation had considerable slowed down. So, they had to wait, and the bouncy ball was all that kept Percy awake.

He was scared of what Annabeth would do to him when he awoke if he fell asleep. The teddy bear, which he had named Mrs O'Leary II, was at his side, wearing an invertible hat that was blue on one side and pink on the other. After an agonising wait, Annabeth finally spoke. "Put that ball away, would you? It's getting on my nerves."

Percy obliged reluctantly, as he didn't want to do anything that might anger her. And at the moment, most things would. "Would you like me to get you anything?" he asked, anything to get him out of the room.  
>"No," she narrowed her eyes at him.<p>

Percy sighed in defeat. What felt like years later, the door opened and in came Sally and Paul Blofis and Poseidon. "Mom!" he grinned, and stood up to greet them.

"Percy! My baby!" she said, enveloping him in a hug.

"Uhh, mom, I'm twenty-nine." He stated awkwardly, embarrassed. Sally opened her mouth to speak when there was a coughing from behind. They turned to see Annabeth smiling bitter-sweetly at them.

"Annabeth! How are you?" Sally exclaimed, kneeling down next to the bed, while Paul and Poseidon congratulated Percy and immediately sparked a conversation with each other, leaving Percy with no-one to talk to – again.

"Now dear, would you like me to get you anything?" Sally asked.

"An iced-tea would be wonderful, Mrs. Blofis, thank you!"Annabeth smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right on it," she said, standing up and leaving as Thalia had done before.

Percy felt betrayed.

"I just asked you that!" he protested.

"Be quiet."

"But-" Percy started, but groaned when Annabeth shot him a warning look.

Paul and Poseidon just smirked at each other in amusement.

{0}

After a long while, Annabeth's dilation started to speed up, and then she went into labour. Athena, Frederick, and Mrs. Chase arrived shortly before, but Matthew and Bobby were told to wait outside. They were Annabeth's paternal half-brothers, and Zeus forbid they ran into the Stoll brothers while they were there.

The actual birth was very chaotic, however. Half way through, Percy had 'encouraged' her by saying, "Come on, Annabeth! You've fought two wars, you've taken a poison dagger for me and you are _not _going to die now!"

She had reacted by shrieking, "I'm gonna _die_?"

It took around five minutes to calm her, but they managed it eventually. At one point the doctor had had enough and yelled, "RIGHT! Out! All of you. Even the father," so they all grudgingly went outside, waiting in the corridor. After some time, some _long _time, the baby had finally been born. Annabeth emerged from the room with the doctor on a wheelchair, clutching a tiny being to her chest. He was a boy, and they named him Luke II, or Luke Jr.

Luke Charlie Jackson, to give the full name.

Now, they, (as in Percy, Sally, Paul, Poseidon, Frederick, Matthew, Bobby, Mrs. Chase and the doctor) were leisurely pushing Annabeth and Luke II down the corridors, cooing and admiring the baby. They went past nurses and other patients who congratulated them, and eventually they reached the double swinging doors that opened into the Reception and waiting room. Annabeth and Percy paused in front of the doors.

They had defeated Kronos and Gaea, seen friends die in their arms, killed monsters from nightmares and spent their entire teen-hood in a magical valley with Greek myths and gods, but this was to be their biggest adventure yet. Annabeth clutched Percy's hand tightly from the wheelchair, cradling Luke in her other arm. They shared a glance.

It held so many emotions; pain, happiness, worry, and joy, all at the same time. Then they wordlessly made an agreement, a connection. Percy nodded, Annabeth smiled briefly and he pushed open the swinging doors of the hospital. They could feel the group behind them following them silently, everyone holding their breath.

However, upon entering the waiting room they were greeted with a surprise that could be pleasant or unpleasant depending how you look at it.

In the centre of the room, surrounded by the massive family, Jason Grace was on one knee holding up a tiny box to a very overjoyed Piper. They arrived just in time to hear her exclaim, "Yes! Oh, yes, Jason, yes!" and fling herself into his open arms. The entire group erupted into whoops and applause – they hadn't seen the other party enter.

"Oh, that is the cutest thing that's happened for _ages!_" Katie Gardner squealed, wrapping her arms around Travis and smiling at the embracing couple in the centre of the hospital waiting room.

"This is the most exciting news I've heard since _forever_!" cried Hazel, close to tears at her friends getting engaged.

Percy hurriedly glanced at Annabeth; the expression on her face could not be described. It was scarier than Zeus, Hades, Kronos and Athena put together. The vengeful look in her stormy grey eyes was more terrifying that her special Annabeth-glare, which was only reserved for people she wanted to kill.

So Percy quickly grabbed Luke, (carefully) from her arms, ignoring her protests and stating loudly, "Uh, hello! New-born baby, over here! This is pretty cute, right?" hurriedly.

But the audience were still applauding the newly engaged couple. Even Percy felt angry now, though he was more worried about Annabeth's reaction. He tried again, louder this time, to still no success. When all of a sudden, Annabeth summoned the strength she still had and hauled herself up from the wheelchair, shaking. Percy didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if she was shaking because she was tired or just anger.

She snatched Luke from his arms, in fact Percy didn't know how the baby was still sleeping, and slowly held him out. Then, to everyone's shock, she yelled at the very top of her lungs, "HELLO, PEOPLE! I'VE JUST HAD A BABY! YES, I'M NOT NAMING IT AFTER ANY OF YOU LOT, BECAUSE YOU SUCK!" and triumphantly sitting back down to a shell-shocked crowd. In fact, Annabeth looked very pleased with herself.

Percy slowly edged away from her. That was literally the scariest thing he had ever witnessed, and he tried his best to pretend he didn't know the woman sat next to him. After people got over the shock, they immediately started cheering and whooping again, coming over to congratulate them on the baby.

When the excitement died down slightly, Annabeth growled to Thalia, "Your brother is going to be dead by the time I'm finished with him, for stealing my thunder."

Percy coughed. "_Our _thunder." Annabeth corrected herself to Percy's pleasure. Thalia gripped Nico's hand tightly and tried her best to ignore Annabeth's evil statement. Percy changed Mrs. O'Leary's invertible hat to blue, and handed it over to Annabeth, who hugged it tightly and started admiring Luke again.

"This is going to be our best adventure yet, isn't it?" said Percy mildly to Annabeth as she held his hand.

"Yes," she agreed, thoughtfully. They smiled at each other, and happily headed back through the doors.

Meanwhile, the doctor and the nurse observed in wonder from the sidelines, both thinking the same thing: _this has been the strangest family _ever.

"So..." he started. "That was chaotic," he said.

The nurse nodded. "Yes," she agreed.

The doctor summoned his courage.

"Umm... I was wondering... would you like to go for coffee some time?"

The nurse smiled. "Yes, actually," she said. "That would be quite nice."

{_End.}_

**What did you think? This was swimming round my head for ages, and I'm glad I've finally finished it! Please review! It would make my day. :) **

**~ Franki**


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